Excercise on The Logic of Science

Dear Boys
I have used the random number generator to generate the following 8 groups.
Group 1 (work on Question 1): Register no. 9, 13, 21, 29
Group 2 (work on Q 2): Register no. 25, 15, 23, 8
Group 3 (work on Q 3): Register no. 18, 7, 5, 27
Group 4 (work on Q 4): Register no. 6, 10, 17
Group 5 (Q 5) : Reg. no. 2, 22, 19, 26
Group 6 (Q 6): Reg. no. 3, 28, 20, 30
Group 7 (Q 7): Reg. 14, 24, 4, 11
Group 8 (Q 8): Reg. 12, 1, 16

Instructions
Read the Introduction section of the article “Bone density and the lightweight skeletons of birds” by Elizabeth R. Dumont:
Answer the following questions:

1) What is the purpose of this piece of study by Elizabeth R. Dumont?

It is to investigate the relationship and trade-offs that birds use involving bone density, bone stiffness and bone weight and strength. (Matthew)

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2) Whatis/are the key question(s)that she is addressing in her research?

How do bird skeletons make birds lightweight?
What are bird skeletons compared to, that makes it lightweight?
- Jing Lin (25)

What is it that about bird skeletons that make birds lightweight?
-Eric (8)

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3) Whatare the information or factsthe researcher used to support her hypothesis?

Bird Bone as a tissue is dense, despite the fact that some bird bones are hollow and thin-walled. (Cong Feng)

Although the bones of birds look delicate and fragile, and many people, including biologists, think that bird bones are lighter than normal bones, the researcher has found that the bones of birds actually contribute to the same percentage of a bird's body as mammal bones. - Julian
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4) Whatare the conclusions/inferencesthat the author has presented in the Introduction section?

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5) Whatare the key concepts that theauthor has used?
Bird bones are hollow and lightweight.(Terence)………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Bone density and the lightweight of bird bones - Ian
Bird bones have lighter density than normal bones and that they have less weight. - Yao Chieh

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6) From your reading, what do you think are the assumptions of scientists in general?

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Um, i dont really know, but let me guess: The scientists assume that bone density affects the "lightweight"-ness of bones, which helps them fly. ~Jarret

7) What should be the point of view of scientists?
It should be that bones in birds are lightweight/lighter than mammals (as an adaptation to assist in flying using less energy), hence it is assumed that bones in birds, on average, are less dense than bones in mammals. (Jason Jia)

I think that the point of view should be like what Jason said.(Elijah)

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8) Evaluate the Introduction section on oneof the following intellectual standards:

(a) Clarity (b)Accuracy (c) Precision (d)Relevance
The introduction is very clear and easy to understand as the author is able to describe/mention in detail the aim and purpose of the research, as well as the gap in the current research that he wants to improve on. (Wenjie)
I agree with wenjie -

jordankow Jul 16, 2011
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Erm...where do we submit?-